Story Time
by dragonwings948
Summary: The Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose have a little chat about their feelings... Yes, it's a bit of fluff, but don't worry, more adventure is coming soon! #2 In the Doctor WhoToo series, sequel to New Beginning and Endings. Copyright to the BBC.
1. Chapter 1

Rose took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She wasn't really sure what she expected to see, but she was surprised to find herself somewhere very familiar, a place she had dreamed of for years...

_How did I get into a bed? _she wondered. _And this looks almost exactly like my room in the old TARDIS. _

A knock sounded at the door; the Doctor. She had always hated it when he had come to see her in the mornings, because her hair was always a mess, and her face pale and washed out. She closed her eyes again, not wanting to face him quite yet. She still had to get all her thoughts in order.

Leaving her eyes opened the tiniest bit, Rose watched the Doctor walk in. He looked at her for a minute, and then walked to the side of her bed. He leaned over her, as if examining something, and then nodded and backed away. He cast one more glance in her direction, and then walked back out the door.

Rose waited a few seconds after it closed to jump out of bed. She went straight to a long mirror that leaned against the wall and examined her disarrayed appearance. Finding a hairbrush in a set of drawers next to the mirror, she brushed through her tangled hair. Thankfully it straightened out nicely with little waves here and there.

She then looked around for clothing. She spied a closet on the next wall, and opened it to reveal all sorts of different clothes, all her size. She remembered this from when she used to travel with the Doctor, but it still amazed her all the same. The TARDIS would never stop holding wonders.

Rose changed into some jeans and a t-shirt, applied a little bit of makeup, and then was satisfied with her appearance. She sat back down on her bed, her mind beginning to wander.

Now that she was fully rested and she and the Doctor were alone, no doubt painful subjects would come up. He would have things to ask her, surely, just as she would have questions to ask him.

There was a knock at her door. "Come in," Rose said in a quiet voice, still pensive.

The Doctor walked in and smiled at her. "Good morning," he said in his jovial attitude, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I imagine you slept well, because you slept for, oh..." He tilted his chin and rolled his eyes upward. "...eighteen hours. So good night, really. How are the burns doing?"

Rose hadn't even felt her burns at all. She looked down at her arm to find that the bright red had faded to a dull pink. "I didn't even notice them."

"Good. I visited a rainforest on Venus and picked up a plant I thought would do the trick. Almost like aloe, but the juice is purple, and-"

Rose sat up straighter, her eyebrows furrowing together. "You went somewhere without me?"

"Just for a bit," said the Doctor, stepping closer with wide and innocent eyes. "Nothing happened. Well, except for those two cannibals, and, well, that dinosaur..."

Rose shook her head. "You can't go without me. You're not invincible like you used to be. Besides..." She smiled at the prospects of the future. "I would miss out on all the adventure."

"Oh, we can't have that, can we?" The Doctor sat on the edge of the bed and swung his legs over the side, sitting cross-legged in front of her. "Well, now that we have time to chat, it's story time."


	2. Chapter 2

"Story time?"

"What happened while I wasn't there."

"Oh." Rose looked down and fiddled with the blanket. "Nothing much. I took a break from Torchwood to focus solely on the portal. I did stuff with my family, vacations and all that..."

She looked back up at him. He was listening intently, obviously expecting more. What more was there to tell? Her life had been monotonous and dull.

"I missed you," she mumbled, her eyes darting away from his. "And not just the Doctor, but you. Your sassiness, the way you would yell at the telly, and tell everyone from Torchwood that their calculations were wrong..." She dared to meet his gaze through blurry eyes and found that his expression had softened, and he stared at her in something like disbelief.

"Rose..." he murmured.

"I should have never let you go," she continued, her voice coming out as a squeak. She gripped the blanket like it was a lifeline. "If I would have just talked to you, none of that would have ever happened. We could have worked through it, but I just..." Rose bit her lip as a sob threatened to come through. She had always hated crying in front of him, but warm tears trailed down her cheeks, unabated. She wanted to say more, but she couldn't go on.

Silently, the Doctor reached out for her and pulled her into his arms. Rose wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head against his chest. He held her close and stroked her back in a slow, soothing rhythm.

He still didn't speak, as if he knew that she wasn't done yet. After a minute of trying to calm down enough to talk, Rose continued, still curled up in the Doctor's lap. "Thank you for saving me. I didn't deserve it; I was rotten to you."

"Oh, Rose Tyler." The Doctor spoke in a husky voice, full of emotion. He pulled away from her hold just a little bit so that he could lean down and kiss her forehead. "There is nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you. I will always be here to save you, no matter what comes in between us." He pried her off of him so that he could look her in the eye. "I forgive you, Rose. You will always be forgiven." His timeless eyes reflected the sincere promise, a mistiness beginning to come over them.

Rose clutched onto him all the tighter, her tears spilling over again. The Doctor went on, his voice low and hoarse.

"It wasn't all your fault either. I could have stayed, but I ran away. I could have come back, but I never did. I was scared and hurt, 'cos I need you, Rose. I couldn't imagine a life without you. But I didn't want to take the chance of being rejected again. I didn't think I could handle it. Part of me knew that I was being silly, but I never acted on it. I'm sorry." He pulled away from the embrace and put a hand on the side of her head, stroking her hair with his thumb. His eyes reflected a deep sadness. "I'm so sorry for putting you through that again. I should have never left. Now those years are gone..."

The Doctor swallowed hard. His chin quivered, and a single tear tracked down his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Rose."

Rose couldn't speak. She felt no sort of anger toward him at all; in fact, quite the opposite. In that year they had spent together, he had only told her that he loved her a rare few times. Hearing him state it again in a roundabout way made her happy beyond belief.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked in a soft voice.

Rose shook her head, managing to choke out her thoughts. "No. You...you said you loved me."

He laughed, looking down at her with an overjoyed expression. "I suppose you forgive me, then?"

"Of course I do, you silly old alien," Rose said, her voice a mixture of a laugh and a sob.

"Well, then." He bent down to rest his forehead against hers. "Rose Tyler, I love you."

Her heart leaped as he said it. Of course, she knew the obvious response, but instead she smiled and giggled, her sobs subsiding. "Quite right, too."

"Oi!" the Doctor leaned back with a chuckle. "I knew that was going to come back one day." He stood up on the floor, holding Rose's hand and tugging her along with him. He turned to walk out the door, but Rose pulled him back. The Doctor turned around, one eyebrow raised.

Rose took a step toward him, and then wrapped her arms around him. She had missed his protective and loving presence so much. "I love you, Doctor. _My _Doctor."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her closer to him. "My Rose." He kissed the top of her head, and then drew away, grabbing her hand again. With a huge smile he darted out the door, dragging her with him.

"We have a whole universe to explore!" he called as they ran down the TARDIS hallway. "Allons-y!"


End file.
